Italian League playoffs, Quarterfinals, Game 3: May 14-15, 2008 - ITALY

November 22, 2009

Countdown

Italian League playoffs, Quarterfinals, Game 3: May 14-15, 2008

Defending champion Montepaschi Siena and Air Avellino punched their tickets to the Italian League semifinals by sweeping their respective best-of-five series. Montepaschi bested Upim Bologna 85-74 in Game 3 as Ksistof Lavrinovic posted 19 points and 8 rebounds and Terrell McIntyre scored 18 and dished 6 assists. Avellino beat Pierrel Capo d'Orlando 89-79 thanks to a 35-point effort from Devin Smith. Meanwhile Armani Jeans Milano and Lottomatica Roma improved to 2-1 in their series. Milano bested Premiata Montegranaro 72-90 in Game 3 on the road thanks to Melvin Booker’s 26 points and Roma topped Tisettanta Cantu 86-67 as Rodrigo De La Fuente led a well-balanced scoring effort with 16.

Defending champion Montepaschi Siena punched its tickets to the Italian League semifinals by sweeping Upim Bologna in the best-of-five quarterfinals. Montepaschi bested Bologna 85-74 in Game 3 as Ksistof Lavrinovic posted 19 points and 8 rebounds and Terrell McIntyre scored 18 and dished 6 assists. Bologna actually was the stronger side early, scoring the game’s first 9 points en route to a stunning 1-14 lead. The visitors led 13-23 after 10 minutes, but Montepaschi soon closed the gap with a 9-0 run sparked by Tomas Ress, later tied the game at 29-29 on a Lavrinovic triple, though Oscar Torres gave Upim a 35-37 halftime lead. Another Lavrinovic three to start the second half gave Montepaschi its first lead. Upim still fought though and the game was tied again at 67-67 – the ninth tie of the second half – midway through the fourth quarter. However McIntyre and Bootsy Thornton then triggered a 9-0 push that put the game and series away. Thornton finished with 17 points and Romain Sato added 10 for Siena. Stefano Mancinelli led Bologna with 18 points, former Montepaschi player Joseph Forte added 15, Torres 12 and Davide Lamma 11.

Armani Jeans Milano bested Premiata Montegranaro 72-90 in Game 3 on the road thanks to Melvin Booker’s 26 points. The visitors made their move with a 10-31 third quarter in which Booker drilled 5 three-pointers. Ansu Sesay added 18 points, Dusan Vukcevic 17, Casey Shaw 12 and Danilo Gallinari 11 for Milano. Jobey Thomas led Montegranaro with 17. Lottomatica Roma topped Tisettanta Cantu 86-67 as Rodrigo De La Fuente led a well-balanced scoring effort with 16. Roberto Gabini added 15 points and 8 rebounds, David Hawkins scored 14, Ibrahim Jaaber 11 and Roko Ukic 10 for Roma. Herve Toure scored 14 for Cantu in defeat.

Quarterfinal Playoffs, best of 5 games

Record	Team	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
3	Montepaschi Siena (1)	91	72	85	x	x
0	Upim Bologna (8)	72	69	74	x	x
1	Montegranaro (4)	73	73	72	May 16	*May 18
2	AJ Milano (5)	69	101	90	-	-
2	Lottomatica Roma (2)	85	73	86	May 17	*May 19
1	Tisettanta Cantù (7)	59	75	67	-	-
3	Air Avellino (3)	103	96	89	x	x
0	Capo d'Orlando (6)	92	86	79	x	x

Quarterfinal Playoffs games
Game 1	Montepaschi Siena vs. Upim Bologna	91-72	May 10
Game 1	Montegranaro vs. AJ Milano	73-69	May 10
Game 1	Lottomatica Roma vs. Tisettanta Cantù	85-59	May 11
Game 1	Air Avellino vs. Capo d'Orlando	103-92	May 11
Game 2	Upim Bologna vs. Montepaschi Siena	69-72	May 12
Game 2	AJ Milano vs. Montegranaro	101-73	May 12
Game 2	Tisettanta Cantù vs. Lottomatica Roma	75-73	May 13
Game 2	Capo d'Orlando vs. Air Avellino	86-89	May 13
Game 3	Montepaschi Siena vs. Upim Bologna	85-74	May 14
Game 3	Montegranaro vs. AJ Milano	72-90	May 14
Game 3	Lottomatica Roma vs. Tisettanta Cantù	86-67	May 15
Game 3	Air Avellino vs. Capo d'Orlando	89-79	May 15
Game 4	AJ Milano vs. Montegranaro	-	May 16
Game 4	Tisettanta Cantù vs. Lottomatica Roma	-	May 17
Game 5	Montegranaro vs. AJ Milano	-	*May 18
Game 5	Lottomatica Roma vs. Tisettanta Cantù	-	*May 19